


The High School of the Lost 2

by KaleyMarie



Series: The High School of the Lost [2]
Category: Descendants (2015), The Isle of the Lost - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - High School Musical, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, High School Musical AU, M/M, Sequel, but i will put a warning at the beginning of the chapter if that happens, hsm au, i havent decided yet if i'll add any smut, jaylos, rated teen and up for kissing and stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2018-07-19 22:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7379674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaleyMarie/pseuds/KaleyMarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Auradon Prep Knights are gearing up for big fun as they land the coolest summer jobs imaginable. Jay, Carlos, Mal, and Ben have scored sweet gigs at the Auroria Springs Country Club owned by Audrey and Doug's family.<br/>Audrey's first rule of business: Get Jay.<br/>As Jay experiences a privelege he's never known, will he give up the Knights and Carlos to rise to the top?</p><p>AKA: The High School of the Lost sequel that everyone asked for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What Time Is It?

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHH I'm finally starting to write a sequel guys!! I'm sorry it's taken so long (the first one was posted almost a year ago) but school got absolutely insane... but now I'm done! So strap in and get ready for the sequel you've been begging for... :)

“You must remember, young thespians, learning is never seasonal. So, do allow the shimmering lights of summer to refresh and illuminate your fertile young minds,” Ms. Fair’s voice rang out strong and true as her homeroom class was slowly losing their minds.

“What’s she talking about?” Mal whispered as Ms. Fair kept talking, “And what time is it?” she asked, turning to her boyfriend in the seat next to her.

Ben shrugged his shoulders, leaning towards her to whisper, “Just hang on, there’s only like a minute left in class anyways.”

Jay turned around in his chair to send his boyfriend, Carlos, a small (exasperated) smile. Carlos returned it fully, knowing exactly how Jay, and the rest of his classmates, felt about their last class of the day.

“Dude,” Jay said, leaning back so Mal could hear him, “Ms. Fair has snapped her cap.”

“Dude,” Mal smirked, “You’re actually listening?”

Just then Ms. Fair’s attention was drawn to the back of the class, everyone turning around to look at Chad, whose hand was high in the air.

“Yes Chad?” Ms. Fair asked.

“So, what was your favourite summer memory, Ms. Fair?” Chad inquired.

The class groaned as Ms. Fair started droning on about summers when she was a child, all of them suddenly going silent as the hand on the clock seemed to tick louder and louder with each passing second. In fact, the entire clock seemed to grow bigger as the students gazed at it longingly, knowing that by now there must be even less than a minute left of this hell.

“It’s almost summer,” Mal whispered, clutching her tourney stick tighter.

“Summer,” Evie whispered, thinking of all the new hairstyles and clothing designs she would get to try out.

“Summer,” Jane sighed, thinking of all the songs that were begging her to be put to paper.

“Summer,” Carlos murmured, thinking of how great it would be to not move away for once and to spend his summer with his new friends (and boyfriend of course).

“Summer,” Jay breathed, already looking forward to the make out sessions he and Carlos would have… not that they didn’t have them already.

The hand tick-tick-ticked up to the top of the clock, seemingly slowing down as it crept closer to its peak, the students all holding their breath as-

**BRRIIIIIIIIING!!!!**

“Yes!” Mal exclaimed, quickly standing up and slinging her backpack over her shoulder. “Come on Benny-Boo, let’s blow this popsicle stand,” she said as she took Ben’s hand in hers, Ben glaring at her playfully at the nickname before following her out of the classroom.

Audrey and Doug, which had previously been silent, stood up and sauntered towards the door, Audrey calling out, “Goodbye my darlings! I will miss you all, bye-bye until next fall!” before exiting.

Doug flushed and turned to Evie, muttering a quick, “Have a good summer, Evie,” before swiftly following his sister out the door.

“Bye Doug!” Evie called out, smiling to herself as she packed up her things.

“Come on Lonnie, we’re gonna be late!” Jane called out, stopping by the door to wait for her girlfriend to catch up to her.

“Sorry!” Lonnie replied as she hurried to Jane’s side, slipping her hand in Jane’s as she gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Jane blushed and grinned, talking to Lonnie about a new song she had been thinking of as they headed out into the hallway.

Jay watched as they left, feeling his chest swell up with pride, after all if he and Carlos hadn’t dared to audition for the school’s musical, Jane might not have had the confidence to ask Lonnie out. Of course, Jay knew that he couldn’t take all the credit, but he still enjoyed the fact that two of his new(er) friends were happy and in love because of him.

“Hey you,” Carlos said as he walked up beside him, “Ready to go?”

Jay grinned and replied, “Almost, but first…” he trailed off as he leaned down to kiss the smaller boy, smirking against his lips when he heard him moan slightly. Reluctantly he pulled away and whispered, “There, now I’m ready.”

“Wh-what was that for?” Carlos stammered as he shook his head, trying to get rid of the dizziness that Jay had caused as he allowed Jay to take his hand and lead him out into the hallway.

“That was the very last kiss we will have in this school during our junior year,” Jay said, smiling down at the boy.

“Our last… my god, you’re more romantic than Ben,” Carlos laughed.

“Am not!” Jay exclaimed, though secretly he liked that Carlos thought he was romantic.

“Well, maybe not,” Carlos said as they reached the entrance to the school, “Besides…” Carlos paused, causing Jay to look down at him. Carlos grabbed the front of Jay’s shirt and pulled him down to him, turning his head so they wouldn’t bump heads as he crashed their lips together. Carlos nipped at Jay’s bottom lip, this time causing the older boy to groan, before pulling away.

“That was our last kiss in this school for our junior year,” Carlos grinned, loving the reactions he could get out of Jay when he wanted to.

“Tease,” Jay quipped as he walked out the doors with Carlos.

“You love it,” Carlos retorted, causing a grin to appear on the older boy’s face.

“Yeah, I do,” Jay admitted before leaning down and kissing Carlos one more time.

“Guys! Come on, seriously, get a fucking room or something,” Mal remarked as she strolled up to the two of them, Ben being pulled along behind her.

“Maybe we will,” Carlos replied, remembering how he had said the exact same thing to Mal just a couple months prior.

Jay smirked and said, “Oh we definitely will,” pulling Carlos into his side and placing an arm around his shoulders.

“Ha! Like we can afford one,” Carlos huffed, leaning closer to Jay as he put a hand around his waist.

“Yeah, seriously, this summer I gotta make bank. My parents keep talking about how much college is gonna cost…” Jay said.

“I know what you mean, my folks said they’ll match whatever I make, but I gotta get hired first,” Chad said as he entered the group’s small circle.

“Me too,” Mal agreed, “I’m saving up for a car, so I can take this hottie on a proper date.” Mal smirked and looked up at Ben, who had reddened at her comment.

Evie came up to the group and asked, “What’re we all talkin’ about?”

“Jobs,” they all sighed.

“Ugh, I get the tone. Carlos and I have had, like, eight job interviews, but we keep getting beat out by college kids!” Evie replied, groaning with the rest of them. The rest of them started sharing similar horror stories regarding job interviews when Carlos felt a breath by his ear.

“Hey, whatever happens, it doesn’t matter as long as we’re together. Right?” Jay whispered into Carlos’ ear.

“Promise?” Carlos murmured.

“Here’s my promise,” Jay replied as he held out his hand. Carlos looked down to see a plain, black, leather bracelet in his hand, or at least it looked plain at first glance. Carlos squinted to see the words “Break Free with me… - J” pressed into the front of the fabric.

“Like our song...?” Carlos asked, turning to look into Jay’s eyes.

“Well, I… yeah,” Jay replied, flushing a deep shade of red at the intimacy of Carlos’ stare.

“I love it,” Carlos said as he moved so Jay could clasp it around his wrist, “And I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jay replied, kissing Carlos’ cheek as they rejoined the conversation.

“You’ll never guess what just happened,” Lonnie said as she and Jane reached the group.

“What?” Mal asked.

“Audrey just got me a summer job at her country club,” Jane replied, causing the group of them to collectively drop their jaws. “Apparently her rehearsal pianist is moving-”

“Or hiding,” Carlos muttered, causing a small chuckle from Jay.

“-And she wants me to fill in for her,” Jane finished.

“Well, good on you,” Ben said, “At least now one of us has a job, even if it is with Barbie’s psychopathic double.”

They all shrugged their agreement, knowing that even though it was shitty, it was good to have any sort of job.

“Come on boys,” Mal said, looking down at her watch, “It’s time to get our butts in gear! Our end of the year workout starts now!”

Jay grinned and kissed Carlos’ cheek, “I gotta go, see you later?”

“For sure,” Carlos replied, smiling as Jay, Mal, Ben, and Chad made their way to Chad’s car.

“Come on, little brother,” Evie called out as she started walking in the opposite direction.

Carlos’ heart swelled at those words, never getting used to the affection behind them, as he turned around and caught up with her.

“Don’t worry about me, big sis,” Carlos replied, glancing back one last time to see Jay wave at him out of the car window before disappearing around a corner.

“I’ll always worry about you,” Evie stated, linking her arm with Carlos’ as they made their way home.

 

* * *

  
“Nice workout, fellas,” Jay said as he entered his house.

“I’m starving!” Mal said.

“Me too,” Ben agreed, giving Mal a small kiss before making his way towards the pantry.

“Hey there guys,” Jafar said as he walked into the kitchen, “How was the workout?”

“It was good Dad,” Jay replied, “We’re even better than last season, we have nothing to worry about.”

Jafar smiled as he asked, “So, how’s the big job hunt coming?”

“The big zero,” Chad replied before taking a swig out of a milk container.

“Yeah, we were talking about this earlier,” Mal said, “Apparently all the girls-”

“And Carlos,” Jay interjected.

“Yes, and Carlos, have been going in for a bunch of interviews with no luck. Everyone just wants college kids,” Mal frowned, reaching around Chad to swipe a bag of chips on the counter.

“That sucks you guys,” Jafar replied, honestly sorry that jobs were getting more and more difficult to obtain.

The guys mumbled replies as Jay looked down at his phone, it had begun to ring but he didn’t recognize the number on his screen.

“Uh-oh,” Mal smiled as she saw him answer his phone, “Boyfriend alert!”

“Hello?” Jay asked.

“This is James Deley, General Manager of Auroria Springs Country Club here in Auradon. I understand you’ve been looking for summer work?” the voice at the other end said.

“Uh, that sounds fantastic, Mr. Deley. But, how did you get my name? I don’t even remember applying for-” Jay was cut off.

“We’ve always had a student summer work program here at Auroria Springs. So, are you interested?” Mr. Deley asked.

“Here’s the thing,” Jay replied, “I know the most amazing guy… I mean, student. Straight A’s, quintuple straight A’s, and it would be so amazingly perfect if…”

Mal looked up from her bag of chips to see Jay walk into another room, still talking on the phone. “Wow, he’s really working someone…” She was about to speculate more when Jafar interrupted her thoughts.

“It can’t be Carlos. Whenever he calls, he just blushes.” Mal’s eyes widened as she struggled to contain a laugh, Jafar’s eyes widening also as he whispered, “I never said that.”

“Yes!” Jay exclaimed as he came back into the kitchen.

“What’s up?” Mal asked.

“Nothing,” Jay replied, looking at the stares of his teammates before saying, “Nothing! Seriously, it’s nothing.”

Thankfully Jay was saved from the third degree he was sure to get when his mother, Amara, entered the kitchen.

“Hello boys, would you be so kind as to help me bring in the groceries?” she asked.

They all looked down at the food they had been eating, her food, and sheepishly put it down on the counter before replying, “Yes, Mrs. Williams.”

Then the boys hurried outside, Jay’s head still stuck in the phone call he had just received, a grin slowly breaking out onto his face when he thought about how great his summer was already turning out.

 

* * *

  
“What do you think I should wear tonight?” Carlos asked Evie, staring at himself in her full length mirror before turning around to face her on the bed.

“Why?” she asked somewhat distractedly, flipping through a design booklet and dog earing the ones she wanted to try.

“Jay and I are going out tonight,” Carlos replied, still unsure as to what the hell he should do with himself.

“So? You go out like every other night, why is tonight making you so fidgety?” Evie asked, closing her book.

“Because, well… It’s our… anniversary…” Carlos mumbled.

“Your WHAT?” Evie yelled, wincing and lowering her voice as she repeated, “Your what?”

“It’s our anniversary,” Carlos replied, “Today is the sixth month mark in our relationship.”

“But I thought you guys met on New Year’s Eve? Wouldn’t your anniversary be at the start of the month?” Evie questioned.

“We don’t count that since we weren’t really together, actually tonight is the anniversary of when we sang together at school… for the callbacks,” Carlos blushed, knowing how corny that sounded.

“Oh! How romantic!” Evie gushed, never knowing that Jay could be so thoughtful, “I know exactly what you should wear.”

Carlos smiled as he saw her race out of her room to search through his closet, only gone for a couple minutes before racing back into her room and handing him the clothes she had picked out, motioning to her washroom so he could put them on. He stepped out of the washroom a short time later, feeling only somewhat uncomfortable in the ensemble, and smiled when he saw Evie put a hand to her chest.

“You look amazing,” she said.

Carlos walked back over to look in the full length mirror, and actually froze when he saw what he looked like. Evie had picked out long black dress pants for him to wear, something that already made a difference seeing as he always wore shorts, and his shirt was a plain white dress shirt, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows so it wasn’t as fancy. He faintly touched the bracelet that Jay had given him, having never taken it off since then, and grinned at how well it went with his clothes, not that black was a hard colour to match with things.

“Now, for the final touches,” Evie whispered as she moved to her vanity.

“Makeup? No, Evie I draw a line at that,” Carlos said, backing away.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby! I’m just going to enhance your features a little bit, if you don’t like it you can wash it off right after. Okay?” Evie argued, pointing to the chair in front of him for Carlos to sit down.

“Fine, but nothing too drastic!” Carlos relented, sitting down in front of her.

“Promise,” Evie whispered, already reaching around for something to put on Carlos’ face.

 

* * *

  
“What should I wear?” Jay wondered, knowing that he probably wasn’t going to be getting any answers from his empty room. He heard a bark behind him, and smiled when he turned around to see Dude lying on his bed. “Yeah, Dude? What do you think I should wear?” Dude just stared at him for a moment before barking again, Jay smiling and moving to pet him as he sat down on the bed.

He smiled as he thought back to when Carlos had first met Dude, not knowing how scared people could be of dogs until that moment…

_It had been about a month after the callbacks; Jay and Carlos were dating but didn’t have a lot of time to see each other because of Carlos’ situation. Moving in and getting new guardians took a lot longer than expected, at least to Jay anyways. Once everything had settled down a bit, Jay decided that he wanted Carlos to come home and officially meet his parents, he had barely opened the door before Carlos had screamed and hid behind Jay._

_“Carlos, what’s wrong?” Jay asked._

_“I d-didn’t know you h-had a d-dog,” Carlos stammered, physically shaking as he held onto Jay’s back._

_“You’re scared of dogs?” Jay asked, surprised that out of the time they’ve been together he’d never thought to ask. He was grateful to see his parents grab hold of Dude and start leading him further into the house, knowing that part of the reason was to give them some privacy._

_“Terrified,” Carlos breathed._

_“Why?” Jay wondered._

_“When I was little my mother…” Carlos had clenched his eyes shut at the memory before continuing, “My mother had a dog that she’d use to… control me. She’d lock me in the closet with it if I misbehaved, and let’s just say it wasn’t friendly.”_

_Jay’s eyes widened as he took the younger boy’s hands in his and said, “I am so sorry, I’m so sorry Carlos.”_

_Carlos had let out a shaky breath and replied, “It’s ok, seeing dogs just brings back memories is all.”_

_“Well,” Jay tentatively said, “Would you want to try petting Dude? Maybe getting to know a nice dog can help with your fear of all dogs.”_

_Carlos looked around Jay to where Jafar was holding onto Dude, hardening his face as he nodded. Jafar had come back to them and handed the dog over to Carlos, who tensed for a moment, but relaxed when Dude started to happily lick at his neck and face. Jay could still remember how Carlos had giggled that day, the sound playing over and over until he decided that it was probably his favourite sound in the world._

Jay came back to present day when he heard his phone ding, the alarm he’d sent for himself had gone off and he swore as he hurriedly threw together an outfit. If he didn’t leave in the next five minutes, he would officially be late.

 

* * *

  
Jay was standing in the foyer in Evie and Carlos’ house, having been told by Evie that Carlos was almost done getting ready. He had been waiting for five minutes when Evie came down the stairs, smiling at Jay like she knew something that he didn’t. When she reached the bottom of the stairs and moved to stand next to him he was about to ask her what was going on when his attention was once again drawn to the top of the stairs, he looked up to see Carlos and he was completely floored.

Carlos was wearing black dress pants, something Jay had never seen him wear, a white dress shirt that had a couple of the top buttons left unbuttoned and the sleeves pushed up slightly, and there was a red bow tie loosely hanging around his neck like he had just untied it. He could see the bracelet he had given Carlos still around his wrist, and smiled as Carlos came down step by step. When he came close enough Jay actually had to gasp, because tonight Carlos looked even more different than just his clothes.  
Carlos’ eyelashes seemed… longer, somehow, and more pronounced. As Carlos reached him he lifted a hand to trace the side of his jaw, marvelling at the faint rosiness of his cheeks and how his lips were just slightly pinker than normal.

“Evie did my makeup,” Carlos whispered, blushing slightly at Jay’s attention.

“Well,” Jay breathed, “It makes you look…” Jay trailed off as he struggled to find the right word.

“Stupid?” Carlos muttered, looking into Jay’s chest in embarrassment.

“No,” Jay replied firmly as he tilted Carlos’ chin up so he could look at him as he said, “Stunning.”

Carlos blushed and took Jay’s hand in his, but looked down at Jay again as he asked, “Wait, are you wearing your tourney jersey?”

“What?” Jay asked, looking down at himself, “Oh shit.” In his rush to leave he had thrown a suit jacket on over his tourney jersey.

“It’s fine,” Carlos replied as he smiled up at him, “It looks good.” Carlos turned to Evie and said, “We’ll be home by 11ish.”

“Oh, please, my mom doesn’t care when the hell you’re home as long as you look as gorgeous as you do right now, but I’ll tell her if she asks,” Evie replied.

Jay smiled and nodded at Evie, turning around and leading Carlos out the door.

 

* * *

  
“Jay, you need to stop staring,” Carlos said for the third time, though smiling at the thought of drawing Jay’s attention for so long.

“I can’t help it,” Jay replied, “I’ve never seen you look this gorgeous.”

“What, I’m not gorgeous normally?” Carlos teased.

“No, you are,” Jay said, “But tonight you just look especially gorgeous.”

Carlos blushed again, something he had been doing a lot of this evening, and went back to eating his meal. Jay had taken him to one of the fancier restaurants in town, Tiana’s Palace, and he couldn’t remember when, or if, he’d ever had this nice of a meal… at least, not before Evie’s family.

“Wait, what?” Jay asked, his eyes widening. Carlos froze and looked back up at Jay, not realizing he’d been talking.

“Nothing,” Carlos replied, a little too quickly.

“You can’t remember if, before Evie, you’ve ever had a nice meal?” Jay asked, his brows furrowing.

“No,” Carlos admitted, “My mother… well, can you imagine her taking me to a place like this?”

Jay frowned at Carlos, who had withdrawn into himself the more he thought about his mother, Jay reached out a hand placed it overtop of Carlos’, stroking his thumb across the back of it. Carlos took a deep breath and relaxed, focusing on Jay’s touch as he tried to slow his heartrate. They stayed that way for a while, the silence between them only broken by Carlos’ deep breathing.

“I, uh… I have some good news,” Jay said after a while.

“Yeah?” Carlos muttered, grateful for Jay’s obvious attempt at distracting him.

“This afternoon I received a phone call from a country club, Auroria something, and the manager wanted to know if I was interested in a job…” Jay explained.

“Really? That’s amazing!” Carlos replied, his sorrow turning to joy at the news.

“Oh, I didn’t take it,” Jay replied, his lips turning up into his trademark smirk.

“What? Why not?” Carlos asked.

“Well, not at first I mean,” Jay said, “Not until he promised to get my boyfriend and the rest of my classmates jobs too.”

Carlos’ jaw dropped, his breath stuttering for a different reason as he took in the news.

“What? Jay that’s amazing! Thank you!” Carlos exclaimed, pulling Jay in for a kiss.

Jay smiled against Carlos’ lips, already knowing that this was going to be the best summer of his life.


	2. Fabulous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So normally chapters won't be written this quickly but I was hit with sudden inspiration! Expect at least a week until the next chapter is posted, but in the meantime enjoy!!

For some, a hot pink convertible flying down a desert road might be an odd sight, but for the workers at Auroria Springs it was a yearly occurrence, one that generally had everyone standing up straighter and hoping to all hell that they wouldn’t get the unlikely job of waiting on Audrey Matthews hand and foot.

Audrey on the other hand was on Cloud 9, she was about to spend the summer without any of her annoying classmates as she was pampered practically 24/7. She smirked as she pulled into the Auroria Springs parking lot, loving that there were already people waited for her arrival.

“Miss Matthews, Mr. Matthews, you’re both looking very sharp this summer! Welcome back to Auroria Springs,” Audrey smiled at the familiar face, already thinking that this summer was looking up.

“Thank you, Charles,” she replied, taking the hand that was offered to her as she stepped out of the vehicle, “Oh, and could you find some shade for my car?”

“Even if we have to plant a tree,” Audrey looked to the front doors, smiling as she greeted him.

“Deley,” Audrey said in greeting.

“And may I say, welcome back,” Deley continued with a nod and a slightly fake smile.

“It’s good to be home,” Audrey breathed as she looked around at her domain, as she flipped her hair and walked through the front doors, knowing that her brother and Deley would follow.

“Are the flyers ready?” Audrey asked.

“ _This_ year we _embossed_ the flyers for the show,” Deley replied, picking one up and showing them both as proof.

“Inspired,” Audrey complimented, reaching through her purse to find her faithful pink Sharpie, “Oh, I plan to limit member talent auditions to 30 seconds each,” she said as she quickly initialed each flyer with a big AM, “Amateur performers are very…”

“Draining?” Deley supplied.

“ _Yes_ ,” Audrey sighed.

“Understood,” he said.

“And should I…” Doug cleared his throat loudly as Audrey corrected herself, “ _We_ be so fortunate as to win the Star Dazzle Award, again,” Audrey had taken to trophy for this year and started walking towards their trophy case when she stopped and said, “But, where would we put it?” The shelf that Audrey had thought would hold another trophy was completely full from past years wins.

“We’re planning on expanding the trophy case. The designs are in my office,” Deley explained easily.

“Deley, you are so efficient,” Audrey said as she pulled him off to the side, “The staffing matter we discussed?”

“Done,” he replied, lowering his voice as he continued, “With discretion.”

“Fabulous,” Audrey hissed, as she turned on her heel and strutted towards the locker rooms.

 

* * *

 

Audrey smiled when she walked out towards the pool, loving the different pale blues and pinks that she could see literally everywhere. (Seriously, it’s like the decorators didn’t know any other colours _existed_.)

“Audrey!” came a chorus of hellos from all around her.

“Girls,” Audrey acknowledged them, though not stopping on her way to her seat.

“Your chaise in its usual spot, Miss Matthews?” one of the lifeguards asked her as he took her bag.

“Thank you, Javier,” Audrey smiled, “Emma, Jackie, and Lea, east of me. Oh, and you’ll be a _prince_ to angle our chaises on the hour, as the sun moves.”

“Well, thanks to the kind words from your mother last season, I’ve been promoted. But, no worries, I’ll make sure that the new lifeguard is fully briefed on _just_ how you like things,” Javier replied, smiling at Audrey even though he really wanted to be anywhere but here.

Audrey’s minions- no, _friends_ hurriedly sat down on a chaise beside her as Emma asked, “So, what’s the theme of the summer talent show, Audrey?”

Audrey moved her hands to fix her hair before turning to the girls and saying, “Redemption.”

“Love it!” Lea replied.

“It was a very… trying year, ladies. My drama department was invaded by outsiders, singers coming from the chemistry lab and the locker room. Shocking, really,” Audrey frowned as she remembered what had happened.

“Sis, we’ve got the pool, the entire club, and the whole summer to enjoy it,” Doug exclaimed, hoping for once that maybe Audrey could accept that other people are talented like her (he doubted it).

“And the spa has been redone!” Emma said excitedly.

“There’s a guacamole facial and a seaweed body scrub on the menu,” Jackie explained, leaning in closer to Audrey as if it were some kind of secret.

“What could be more fabulous?” Lea asked, Audrey made a face as her attention was drawn to the blue drink that appeared beside her.

She took it and huffed, “More ice?”

“Right away, Miss Matthews,” the man said before hurrying to what she assumed was the kitchen.

Audrey basked in the silence that followed, loving that her minio- _friends_ knew exactly when they should shut the hell up. The frown slowly left Audrey’s face as she looked around at the country club, admitting to herself that she did have it pretty good. She even smiled slightly at the idea of winning another Star Dazzle Award, knowing that it was inevitable.

But her small smile turned into a Cheshire cat grin when she caught sight of Jay walking through a gate to the pool, determined that by the end of the summer he would be hers.

“Now _that’s_ fabulous…” Audrey muttered, but her eyebrows furrowed when she saw Jay waving to someone near the pool. She turned her head to see him waving at one of the lifeguards, _Carlos De Vil_ being the lifeguard. Carlos was blushing slightly at Jay’s attention, and Audrey quickly noticed that the rest of her classmates were following Jay through the pool area.

“Not!” she exclaimed, and quickly stood up and walked towards the pool, not really thinking through what she was about to do when she gave out a shriek and “fell” into the deep end of the pool. She continued to scream until she heard a voice beside her.

“I’ve got you! I’ve got you, it’s okay!” Carlos said, trying to calm the flailing girl in the water. He tried to pull her towards the edge when she whipped around and faced him, glaring at him with the fire of a thousand suns.

“What are you doing here?” Audrey hissed.

“I’m the new lifeguard,” Carlos replied as he smiled.

“Wait,” Audrey turned when she heard Jay up on the edge of the pool, “Are you a member here?”

In response Audrey made a noise that was basically a squawk before turning around and slowly swimming to the other end of the pool. She looked back to see Carlos and Jay staring at each other with stars in their eyes, and scowled as she marched towards Deley’s office.

 

* * *

 

“I told you to hire Jay Williams,” Audrey bit out, “Not the entire Auradon Prep student body!”

“You told me to hire Jay Williams, whatever it takes,” Deley replied, holding out a sheet of paper with Audrey’s words written on it.

“Well, why didn’t you warn me about the rest of them?” Audrey yelled.

“I did discuss the matter with the Auroria Springs board, of course,” Deley meekly replied.

“The board. You mean, our…” Doug trailed off as he pointed between Audrey and him.

“Mother!” Audrey shrieked, storming out of Deley’s office and down the halls until she reached a door leading to a yoga class, one that her mother had been taking for as long as she could remember. Audrey opened the door to hear some weird music coming from the speakers, rolling her eyes as she found her mother and moved towards her.

“Carlos De Vil and the Auradon Knights? Mother, how could you?” Audrey asked.

“Think of your future, kitten. These are your school chums, not the fuddy-duddy Auroria Springs staff,” Aurora replied in a soothing voice, though Audrey couldn’t really remember if her mother ever sounded _not_ soothing but that was beside the point.

“These are not my chums!” Audrey explained,” They’ll steal my talent show.” She put on her best puppy dog face as her mother changed positions so she could look her in the eye, but Aurora was having none of it.

“And what fresh talent you’ll have for your summer show,” Aurora continued as if she hadn’t even heard her daughter.

“Mother, did you hear what I just said?” Audrey demanded.

“Listen honey,” Aurora said as she moved to stand beside her daughter, taking Audrey’s hands in hers so she could tell she was being serious, “There is more to life than winning talent shows… friends for instance, and family,” Aurora looked over at Doug then, smiling at her son before continuing, “Audrey, if I know you, and I’m pretty sure I do, you’ll make the right decision.” Aurora then kissed Audrey on the cheek as she moved back into downward facing dog, ending the discussion.

 

* * *

 

“I want them out!” Audrey said as she pulled Deley to the side of the hallway.

“But your mother specifically said-”

“Oh, don’t mention that backstabbing yogini to me! If you can’t fire them, make them wanna quit!” And with that she stormed off to the spa, in serious need of a facial or something to calm herself down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments! And kudos if it's not too much to ask :)


	3. Work This Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long!! My summer's been super busy so I'm having trouble getting around to this, but I'll try to be better! :)

“I’m hoping Chef Michael’s gonna teach me the art of Austrian flake pastry. _And_ Audrey’s gonna be where I work _every day_! How much better can summer get? Right?” Chad grinned as he thought about Audrey, hoping that this summer she might just notice him.

Jay and Mal looked at each other and raised their eyebrows, amused at how Chad was so blind to Audrey’s bat-shit-craziness.

“Yeah, it’s a real dream come true,” Mal smirked as she hit Jay in the arm.

“If you actually get to know her, I mean she’s…” Chad started, but was stopped when Mal hit him in the chest.

“Dude,” she replied, making her face into an expression that everyone knew meant not to argue with.

“Hell I didn’t even know that Audrey’s parents owned this place,” Jay interrupted to avoid more bickering, “Mr. Deley just said that there’s Knight fans at Auroria Springs, and jobs are available. So I said let’s go for it!”

“Inspiring, Mr. Williams,” Jay whipped around to see Mr. Deley standing directly behind him, looking completely unamused, “Truly inspiring. However, what we’re looking for from all of you is not _ins_ piration, but _per_ spiration.”

Jay’s eyes widened at Mr. Deley’s tone, not quite believing that this was the man he had spoken to on the phone a few days ago.

“Confirming assignment,” he continued, “Williams, Wright, Thompson, you are waiters. And, when needed, caddies.” Mal’s face hardened when a white apron was thrown at her, wanting to speak up but fell silent when Jay grabbed her shoulder and shook his head.

“Miss Carson,” by the time Mal had composed herself enough to follow after the man he had already made his was to Evie, “I’m told that you’re efficient? Prove it. You’ll handle member activities. Keep me in sight _at all times_.” Evie barely had any time to respond before he was making his was over to, “Jane, our pianist. Lunchtime and cocktail hour. That means _mood_ music, not _new_ music. Capisce?”

Jane nodded quickly as Mr. Deley continued on his way, not even seeming to notice how the mood in the kitchen had changed drastically. Mal was fuming, barely resisting tearing the man’s head off as he made his way over to where Lonnie was preparing a salad.

“Lonnie, you’ll be chopping, cutting, preparing plates. Do complete the summer with the equal amount of digits I assume you currently possess,” he then quickly turned around and continued, “Chad, you will assist Chef Michael in th-”

“The promised land…” Chad whispered as a smile lit up his face.

“You hold onto that,” Deley said as he clapped him on the shoulder and handed him a Chef’s hat. Chad grinned and walked away, seeming to be the only person who didn’t have a problem with his new job.

“Mr. Deley, Your Excellency, sir, would it be okay if we draw straws to see who has to wait on Audrey?” Mal begged, not accepting that this was going to be how she spent her summer.

“Please, none of you will be waiting on Audrey,” Deley replied, causing Mal to breath out a sigh of relief before he said, “You will be serving Miss Matthews. _Always_ address out members as Mr., Mrs., or Miss. _No exceptions_.”

Everyone fell silent at his tone, all glancing around at each other as if to ask _‘Is this really happening?’_ Although the silence was quickly broken as Carlos entered through the employee entrance to see what was for lunch.

“It smells _so_ good and I am _so_ hungry! What’s for lunch?” Carlos smiled when he saw his friends, not understanding their expressions of the shaking of their heads until it was too late.

“Mr. De Vil,” Carlos turned around to see Mr. Deley, his expression stony and his voice flat as he said, “It would seem your lunch break does not start for,” he looked down at his watch, “3.5 minutes. I do hope no members _drowned_ in your absence,” Carlos’ expression fell and his eyes widened, but Deley either didn’t notice or care as he raised his voice to address the rest of them, “Henceforth, do clock in and out on time. Three infractions of any kind, and your employment is terminated. Capisce?”

Deley stared them down until they all gave a nod of their head, then his face lit up into a smile as he called out, “Chop, chop, chop!” and walked out of the kitchen doors and out of sight.

“Okay, that man officially scares me,” Lonnie whispered.

“Suddenly, I’m beginning to miss detention with Miss Fair,” Mal groaned, “How sick is that?”

“Come on, do you _really_ think that any other jobs we could find would be much better? We got a net out back, two free meals a day, and we only have to wear these stupid outfits on duty!” Jay turned around to address his classmates, “All for one, and one for all. All right? This is our summer! Now what team?”

“Knights!” Carlos and Evie replied.

“I said, WHAT TEAM?” Jay yelled.

“KNIGHTS!” His classmates, besides Mal, answered.

“Jay, seriously, this job is shit,” Mal interrupted, not really in the mood to hear the rest of the cheer.

“Yeah, but it’s the only offer I’ve gotten. How about you?” Jay asked, “Huh, has anyone else gotten _any_ job offers _whatsoever_?” Jay looked from face to face before looking back at Mal, judging by their silence that he had his answer. “Look, we only have to go through this for the summer… and if that’s not enough, just think about payday!”

“Now that’ll taste sweet,” Carlos muttered.

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to have enough money for a spa day!” Evie cried out, suddenly forgetting about Deley’s scowl as he had handed her her clipboard.

“And you _did_ say you were saving up for a car,” Ben chimed in, wrapped his arm around Mal as her expression softened.

“Yeah, I guess I can suffer through this…” she admitted, never liking to admit defeat.

Jay smiled and called out, “Alright then, Knights, let’s get to work!”

 

* * *

 

Carlos sighed as he scanned his card through the machine to punch out for the day, although it hadn’t been a difficult day he was still pretty tired and was glad to finally be able to relax.

“Miss me?” Carlos smirked as Jay reached around him to scan his card through the machine as well, “Of course you did.” Carlos shivered at Jay’s proximity, hating how his voice could affect him so drastically. “Hey,” Jay continued, “Have you ever been on a golf course?”

“We’re employees, Jay. Not members. And I don’t even know how to play golf,” Carlos replied, leaning against the wall beside the machine and looking up at Jay.

Jay leaned down until his lips were right next to Carlos’ ear as he murmured, “Who said anything about golf?” Jay straightened back up and smirked, noticing the way that Carlos bit his lip to keep from making any noise.

“Tease,” Carlos breathed, his face looking flushed even though Jay hadn’t done much of anything.

“You love it,” Jay responded smoothly.

“Yeah,” Carlos muttered, “Now what were you saying about golf?”

Jay grinned and took Carlos’ hand, pulling him along as he raced through the halls of the country club to get them to their destination. He guided them through one of the doors leading to the golf course and stopped to look at Carlos’ expression as he took it all in. Carlos’ mouth dropped open when he say the picnic blanket and basket in the middle of the course, blushing slightly as he walked over to it with Jay hand-in-hand.

“Are you sure it’s okay for us to be out here?” Carlos asked, looking around to see if there was some sort of security, or worse, Deley.

“Yeah, unless the jackrabbits turn us in,” Jay reassured him, leaning down to plant a small kiss on his cheek as they both sat down on the blanket.

“So, how’s kitchen duty?” Carlos asked, wondering how Jay’s first day went.

“Oh, you know, the team that washes dishes together, wins together,” Jay replied, smiling as Carlos moved so he was lying down and his head was in Jay’s lap. Jay used this ideal position to hand feed Carlos some grapes, loving the way he blushed each time.

“Really?” Carlos asked after Jay fed him a fifth grape, not quite understanding the fascination Jay had with feeding him things.

“What?” Jay asked.

“Am I not capable of feeding myself?” Carlos joked, but Jay could tell that underneath he was being somewhat serious.

“Of course you’re capable,” Jay replied, popping a grape into his own mouth before continuing, “I just like… I just like pampering you is all…” Jay flushed crimson and looked at a patch of grass beside the blanket, missing the look of shock that crossed Carlos’ face.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Carlos whispered, reaching a hand up to cup the side of Jay’s face, “Sorry, I just… I mean, no one’s ever done stuff like this for me before… Hell, I don’t think that I’ve ever been _pampered_ before, I mean before you of course.”

Jay looked down at Carlos then, moving one of his hands to run through the younger boys’ hair as he let out a sigh. He should’ve known that Carlos wouldn’t judge him for wanting to spoil him, but hearing it still took a giant weight off of his chest. He continued to run his fingers through Carlos’ hair as his eyes slid shut, his hand falling from Jay’s face as he relaxed.

“You know,” Carlos murmured, “Evie’s mom said summer jobs look good on college applications.”

“All part of the frightening concept called _our future_ ,” Jay said, looking out over the golf course as he said it.

“Are you worried?” Carlos asked, opening his eyes to look at Jay.

“Hey, college costs a fortune. My parents are saving pennies, unlike the people at this place,” Jay replied.

“You know you’re a cinch for a scholarship, right?” Carlos said.

“I’m only as good as whatever happens next season. It’s…” Jay trailed off and he looked into Carlos’ eyes, “I always liked the idea of being in charge of my future, until it actually started happening.”

“So, let’s just think about right now, because I have never been in one place for an entire summer, and this means a lot to me, especially being here with…”

“Such an outstanding peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich maker like me?” Jay quipped.

“I want to remember this summer, Jay,” Carlos said, his tone serious.

“You will,” Jay responded, now just as serious as Carlos, “I promise.”

Carlos smiled and once more reached up his hand to Jay’s head, this time resting it on the back of his head as the older boy leaned down towards him. Jay used the hand that was already in Carlos’ hair to pull him the rest of the way up and sighed when their lips met, feeling completely at peace for the first time that day. He was about to deepen the kiss when-

Chhhiiik!

“What the hell?” Jay and Carlos jumped apart, looking around them at the sprinklers that had turned on and were currently soaking them.

“They must be automatic,” Carlos said through a laugh, closing his eyes at how nice the cold water felt on such a hot day.

“Well, let’s not waste a perfectly good opportunity!” Jay grinned as he pulled Carlos up with him, not letting go of his hands as he asked, “Dance with me?”

“Why of course,” Carlos replied as he bowed slightly, moving so that his left hand was on Jay’s shoulder while his right hand stayed clasped with Jay’s. Carlos giggled as he felt Jay pull him along in an over exaggerated waltz-type dance, though they were really just frolicking through the green as Jay spun them around in circles. They didn’t even notice when the sprinklers turned off, they were too lost in each other to care, but they did notice when they heard a shout from the doorway to the club.

“Williams! De Vil!”

Jay and Carlos stopped dancing and jumped apart, grins falling from their faces as they saw Mr. Deley marching over to them.

“First a break-time infraction, now frolicking on the golf course.  We are not off to an auspicious start, are we, Mr. De Vil?” Deley stared them both down, hoping that his expression was coming off as intimidating.

“Actually, Mr. Deley,” Jay said, “This was my idea, so he’s-”

“How gallant, but irrelevant. We won’t allow this to happen again, will we?” Deley asked.

Jay and Carlos shook their heads as Deley walked away, leaving them both in sour moods and soaking wet clothes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always comment what you think!


	4. You Are The Music In Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's been so long!!!
> 
> I have gotten super busy and my mom's computer broke and I couldn't find time to write anyways... it was a mess. And it's still a mess to be honest, so don't expect regular updates... sorry but that's the way it's gonna be.
> 
> With that said, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

The next day Jay woke up inexplicably happy, he wasn’t quite sure how but he just _knew_ that today was going to be a great day. He walked into the kitchen and gave a brief, “Good morning,” to his friends, smiling when he heard the chorus of ‘Good Morning’s’ that answered. He saw that Carlos was already at the time clock and quickly hurried over to slide a hand into his as he clocked in, eliciting a noise of surprise to come from the boy before he realized just who exactly had grabbed his hand.

Carlos smiled up at Jay, not quite believing he could be so lucky, and was about to lean up to give him a quick kiss when he heard faint singing coming from an open door. He looked at Jay and furrowed his brow before turning and pulling Jay towards the source of the sound.

“ _You are the music in me_ ,” Jane sang faintly, looking up when she saw Jay and Carlos enter the practise room.

“Sounding good, Jane,” Carlos said.

“Thanks,” Jane replied, “Actually, I need to go get ready for the ladies’ luncheon. Won’t exactly be rocking out, it you know what I mean,” Jane trailed off as Jay and Carlos laughed, “You know, I am so excited about the club’s talent show. I mean, the employees get to do a number, and I have ideas for everyone! You guys could sing the lead, and maybe Ben and Mal can do backup, and everyone can dance!”

“Big time out on that one!” Jay interrupted, “My singing career began and ended with the Auradon Prep Winter Musical. I’m just here to make a check and sneak into the pool after work. That’s… that’s really it.” Jay walked around the piano until it was between him and Jane, looking away from her as he became interested in a particular spot on the wall.

Carlos frowned slightly at Jay before turning back to Jane and asking, “What was that you were playing a minute ago?”

“Oh, it’s… it’s nothing. It’s just nothing,” Jane rambled as she struggled to gather up all the sheet music to put it away.

“What’s this?” Carlos asked as he reached for what looked to be the first page of a song.

“Well, I was thinking if you’d do the show, that I wanted to be ready… I wrote this for you guys,” Jane replied.

“Come on,” Carlos said as he put the sheets back in order, “Go.”

Jane smiled and moved her hands to the right position on the piano, pausing slightly before starting the song.

“ _Na, na, na, na… na, na, na, na, yeah… you are the music in me_ ,” Jay turned around to see Carlos staring at him pointedly, obviously trying to get him to agree to sing the song through telepathy, “ _You know the words ‘Once upon a time,’ make you listen, there’s a reason_.”

“ _When you dream there’s a chance you’ll find_ ,” Jay smiled when he heard Carlos join Jane, moving so that he was standing behind him to glance at the song lyrics, “ _A little laughter, or happy ever after_.”

“ _Your harmony to the melody that’s echoing inside my head_ ,” Jay joined Carlos as Jane continued playing the piano, smiling to herself as she did so.

“ _A single voice_ ,” Carlos started.  
“ _Single voice_ ,” Jay sang.

“ _Above the noise_ ,” Carlos sang before Jay came back to join him, “ _And like a common thread.”_

“ _You’re pulling me_ ,” Jay sang as he looked Carlos in the eyes, smiling at the glint in the younger boys’ eyes.

“ _When I hear my favourite song I know that we belong,”_ Carlos sang, Jay moving around to the other side of Jane as he sang.

“ _Oh, you are the music in me. Yeah, it’s living in all of us_ ,” Jay sang.

“ _And it’s brought us here because_ ,” Carlos sang.

“ _You are the music in me_ ,” they sang together.

“ _Na, na, na, na, Oh, na, na, na, na,_ ” Carlos and Jane sang.  
“ _Yeah, yeah, yeah_ ,” Jay sang.

They sang, “ _You are the music in me!”_

“ _It’s like I knew you before we met, can’t explain it, there’s no name for it_ ,” Carlos smiled as he and Jay moved so they were to the side of the piano, his right hand sliding into Jay’s left.

“ _I sang you words I’ve never said_ ,” they sang, “ _And it was easy, because you see the real me, as I am you understand, and that’s more than I’ve ever known_.” Jay let go of Carlos’ hand and moved around to the other side of the piano, keeping eye contact with Carlos while doing so.

“ _To hear you voice above the noise_ ,” Carlos sang.

“ _And know I’m not alone_ ,” they sang together.

“ _Oh! You’re singing to me!”_ Carlos hit the high note with ease, still causing Jay’s heart to skip a beat even after all the times he’d heard him sing.

“ _When I hear my favourite song I know that we belong, you are the music in me,”_ Jay hopped up onto the piano and laid down so his head was right underneath Carlos’, “ _It’s living in all of us, and it’s brought us here because, you are the music in me.”_

Jay quickly leaned up to give Carlos a peck on the cheek before getting off of the piano, once again looking at the sheet music so he could remember the lyrics for the next part.

“ _Together we’re gonna sing! We got the power to sing what we feel, connected and real… can’t keep it all inside!”_ they were so lost in each other that they didn’t notice the door open, and when they did they didn’t care.

“ _Na, na, na, na… na, na, na, na… na, na, na, na…”_ Jane motioned for everyone at the door to come in, motioning for them to join her in singing the Na’s. Ben, Evie, and Lonnie joined in quickly, with Mal following slightly behind, but quickly growing more confident as everyone else joined in too.

“ _Oh, yeah_ ,” Carlos sang as he moved to where Jay was standing.  
“ _Yeah, yeah, yeah_ ,” Jay smiled as he twirled Carlos around.

“ _You are the music in me_ ,” Carlos looked over to the group that was joining him on the words, deciding to riff more as they took over the melody.

“ _Na, na, na, na… na, na, na, na… na, na, na, na…”_ the group sang. _  
“Oh, yeah… Oh, yeah! You are the music in me!”_ Carlos sang, the group joining him at the end. __  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jay sang.

“ _When I hear my favourite song, I know that we belong_ ,” Mal leaned into Ben as they sang along, finding herself smiling despite the cool demeanor she tried to keep.

“ _We belong!”_ Carlos wailed, causing Jay to grin even wider.

“ _You are the music in me,_ ” Lonnie moved so that she was sitting beside her girlfriend, wrapping an arm around her waist as she leaned in to her, “ _It’s living in all of us, it’s brought us here because you are the music in me!”_ Chad and Evie smiled at each other, and at everyone else, both too overcome with emotion to really do anything but sing along to the words.

“ _Na, na, na, na… na, na, na, na… na, na, na, na…”_ the group sang.  
“ _Oh yeah… Oh yeah…”_ Carlos and Jay sang together, wrapping their arms around each other and swaying to the music.

“ _You are the music in me…”_ everyone finished together, smiling at each other for different reasons.  
“ _Yeah_ ,” Jay finished, resting his forehead against Carlos’.

Once again they broke apart because of cheers from around them, but they both didn’t mind, they could make up for it some other time.

“Oh, I love that song!” Carlos gushed as he moved back over to where Jane was sitting.

“Great job, Jane,” Jay added.

“Oh, I’ve got the talent show sign-up sheet right here. Are you in?” Evie asked as she offered the pen to Jay. Jay looked around at the hopeful faces of his friends, knowing that with the amount of force behind all their puppy dog eyes he was screwed.

“Maybe we can work this out,” he said, “But _only_ if we’re all in this together.” He smiled as his friends voiced their enthusiasm, writing his and Carlos’ name down on the sheet before handing it to Evie so she could get everyone else’s signatures.

“This is going to be fantastic! I’m going to coordinate rehearsals to coincide with all of our schedules…” everyone laughed as Jane rambled on, knowing that her mind was going a hundred miles a second. Lonnie just placed a kiss to Jane’s cheek as she continued, excited that they were going to be spending even more time together this summer.

Jay and Carlos chuckled as they moved back to standing in each other’s arms, relishing the few minutes they had before they all had to head off to work.

 

* * *

 

“Goldenthroat, this is Jazz Square. We may have trouble,” Doug spoke into the walkie that his sister had given him so that he could spy on what their classmates were doing, despite how much he really didn’t want to. He honestly didn’t have a problem with his classmates participating in the talent show, winning wasn’t as important to him as just enjoying the performance, but Audrey was his sister, and he would be lying to himself if he said that he had any other friends.

He made his way to the club’s spa, knowing that Audrey was probably getting a facial or something to calm down. He entered the spa to see that he was right, his sister had green guck all over her face and two cucumber slices covering her eyes, meaning she didn’t notice him walk in.

“Hey sis,” Doug greeted.

“So? What’s the trouble you mentioned?” Audrey asked, too focused on destroying her fellow classmates to even pretend to greet her brother.

“Well, Jane’s written a new song… it’s an amazing song, but Jane didn’t write it for us,” Doug explained.

Audrey gasped at that, obviously angry, but Doug just turned to his left to say Hi to his mother, “Hi, Mom.”

“Seaweed scrub, darling?” his mother asked.

“Erm… maybe later?” Doug wasn’t all that into facials, but he would do practically anything to make his mother happy.

“Doug,” Audrey interjected, “It might be wonderful if Jay participates in our talent show,” a slow smirk was creeping its way onto her face, and she struggled to keep her face neutral so her face mask wouldn’t crack.

“What? If he sings with Carlos then our whole show is going to be the _Jay and Carlos Show_ ,” Doug frowned at his sister, not that she could see him, but he was confused as to why she would ever give up her spotlight.

“I’m not certain that Carlos is ideally suited to help Jay realize his full potential at Lava Springs,” Audrey replied smoothly before addressing her mother, “Mommy, what time is Daddy gonna be here?”

“We tee off at noon. Join us?” Aurora answered.

“Love to,” Audrey replied, happy that things were finally going to go her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment below!


	5. Night Is Young

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be busy for a while so don't expect a new chapter soon, but again I'm not abandoning it!! So don't worry about that :)

Jay and Mal heaved a bin of dirty dished up onto the counter in the kitchen, turning to each other in mock seriousness as Jay asked, “And how shall we get to the food today, sir?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, perhaps skipping,” Mal replied, mimicking Jay’s ridiculous English accent.

“Very well then,” he said as he linked arms with Mal and skipping with her on their way to where Chad was working.

“Hipty skipty, hipty skipty, hipty skipty, hipty skipty…” Jay was spouting off nonsense.  
          “Bom… bom, bom, ba, bom… bom…” Mal added her own beat to their march, struggling to keep a straight face while she did so.

“Williams, Wright, you’re caddying today,” Jay and Mal stood at attention as caddying uniforms were thrown to them by Mr. Deley, wiping the smiles they had off their faces, “$40 a bag. You’ve been requested.”

“What?” Mal gaped.

“By who?” Jay asked.

“Dude, who cares? For $40, I’d caddy for Godzilla,” Mal replied.

“Close,” Mr. Deley said, “Very close.”

Jay and Mal looked at each other, now somewhat wary of who exactly they were caddying for, but shrugged it off as just Deley trying to scare them as they each grabbed a fresh cookie from Chad as they hurried off to change.

 

* * *

 

“Hey there!” Jay and Mal turned to see Audrey calling them over to the green, “So, Jay, I thought it was time for you to meet my parents.”

Mal and Jay looked at each other in confusion, but tried to keep their expressions pleasant as Aurora shook Jay’s hand.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Aurora said, smiling warmly at Jay.

“Likewise,” Jay replied, returning her smile just as warmly.

“And it is lovely to meet you, my dear,” Aurora continued as she went to shake Mal’s hand, surprising the girl when she smiled at her just as warmly as she had smiled at Jay.

“Uh… yeah, it’s lovely to meet you too,” Mal replied awkwardly, not quite knowing how to deal with such obvious affection.

“Jay, this is my Daddy! Daddy, this is Jay,” Audrey said as she practically pushed her father in Jay’s direction.

“Jay, as in captain of the Auradon Knights? That was quite a season you guys had,” her father complimented, giving each of them a firm handshake.

“Oh, Jay played on the golf team, too, Daddy,” Audrey added, smiling sweetly at Jay in a way that made his stomach churn.

“Oh, versatile,” Audrey’s father said to Jay before turning to Mal, “How about you, miss?”

“Baseball, and track and field,” Male said proudly.

“Outstanding,” Audrey’s father replied.

“Thank you… sir,” Jay said awkwardly, not quite sure how to respond to that.

“Oh, no need to call me sir young man. I understand that Deley is all about rules and such, but out here you can both feel free to call me Eddie, or Ed, in my opinion Eduard is just too formal,” he said.

“Honestly, sir, I think I’ll stick to calling you Mr. Matthews. You know, in case Deley happens to overhear,” Jay said.

“Alright, but no more ‘sirs,’ it makes me feel ancient,” Mr. Matthews replied with a laugh, turning to his daughter when she started to speak.

“Mal, you’ll be caddying for Mother-” Audrey started.

“Please, call me Aurora,” Aurora pleaded as she gave both of them a smile.

“Jay,” Audrey continued as if her mother hadn’t spoken, “Daddy.”

Jay squirmed at the look that Audrey was giving him, like she wanted to eat him alive, and was thankful when he was distracted by the swing of a golf club. He watched as Aurora, Eduard, Audrey, and Doug each took their turns before moving onto the next hole; Jay almost forgot he was supposed to be caddying for them as they walked away, and hurried to grab Mr. Matthews’ clubs before following them at a slightly hurried pace.

_This is going to be a long day_ , Jay thought.

 

* * *

 

“What do you think?” Mr. Matthews asked.

“Well, it’s 190 to the pin, downhill lie, elevated green. I’d go with a full five, sir- er, Mr. Matthews,” Jay smiled as he handed the man his club, surprised at how much fun he was having while hanging out with Audrey’s family. He watched as he swung, not startled when the golf ball went exactly where he had wanted it to go.

“Nice call,” Mr. Matthews said as he handed Jay the club back.

“All right,” Jay replied.

“How about we all go get a quick snack? It’s been an awfully hot day and I would _hate_ it if any of you caught heat stroke,” Aurora smiled sweetly, something Jay had realized she did a lot of, and motioned for everyone to hop into the hot pink golf cart to the side of the green.

“Are you sure we can just, take that?” Jay asked, wondering if Aurora had been putting on an act the whole time while simultaneously trying to keep himself from laughing at the cart’s paint job.

“Oh, silly me, I forgot to tell you! I called and asked someone on the staff to bring this out here, so no we’re not stealing anyone’s ride,” she replied.

“Oh,” Jay grinned, “Well then, I’m in!”

“Me too,” Mal added before mumbling so only Jay could hear, “I’m fucking exhausted.”

They both got into the back of the cart and held on as Aurora put the pedal to the floor, yelling out a whoop of joy as everyone else emitted small shrieks of fear.

“Sorry!” she called out, not sounding sorry at all, “But I’m starving!”

Jay laughed along with the rest of them, happy that today hadn’t turned out as bad as he had originally thought it would. Even throughout eating and drinking with them, the conversation generally stayed around Audrey and Doug so he didn’t have to worry about saying something wrong. He was following them back to the golf cart when he caught a flash of black and white hair out of the corner of his eye, and he whipped his head around to confirm that he wasn’t dreaming.

“Carlos!” the boy turned around and smiled, moving over to Jay as he asked, “Dinner tonight? Sneak a swim?”

Carlos nodded and replied, “I would love that.”

“Jay!” Jay flinched when he heard Audrey shout his name, giving Carlos an apologetic look and a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying back off to work.

 

* * *

 

“Oh, next time I see Country Club Princess, I’m gonna launch her and her pink cart _straight into the lake_ ,” Mal bit out as she soaked her feet in an ice bath, after their break there had been almost no stopping for hours, and their backs and feet were killing them.

“I’ll build the ramp, buddy,” Jay replied, patting her on the shoulder as he held an ice pack to his own.

“And did you see the way she was _flirting_ with you? Like holy shit man, you’d think she thought you were available…” Mal grumbled.

“She’s just angry that I’m not in love with her like every other guy she’s dumped,” Jay said, “She wouldn’t actually try anything.” _I don’t think_ , he added to himself, starting to get worried about Audrey’s behaviour.

“Wright, this is a _kitchen_ , not a _day spa_ ,” Deley chastised as he walked into the kitchen, “You and Ben suit up for dinner duty in the dining room. Williams, you have five minutes to change and come with me.”

“Umm…” Jay was about to ask why but Deley didn’t wait for a response and walked away, “Okay?”

Jay headed to the locker room with the suit that Deley had given to him in his hands, confused as to why the hell he was being excused from being a waiter that night. The last thing he heard before closing the locker room door was Mal’s muttered motivation as she said to herself, “I’m saving up for a car…. I’m saving up for a car…”

 

* * *

 

Jane sighed as she struggled to keep her eyes open; playing piano for hours on end, no matter how much she enjoyed it, took an immense amount of focus that left her completely drained by the end of the evening. Tonight, however, took a different turn when she saw Jay step through the dining room doors in a suit and tie. He gave her a quick wave when he saw her, she responded by nodding as she couldn’t move her hands, and moved to sit down at a table with… Audrey? Jane’s eyes widened as Jay mouthed ‘ _later’_ to her, she frowned and refocused on her music, vowing to find out what the hell was going on after her shift.

Jay on the other hand was even more confused than Jane. He had no clue as to why he was here, and he honestly didn’t want to be, all he could think about was his dinner date with Carlos and about how much he would rather be with him than with Audrey and her family, no matter how nice the rest of them were.

“Hey! Here’s our superstar!” Mr. Matthews greeted Jay as he came up to the table, “Jay Williams, this is Peter.”

“Peter, good to meet you,” Jay said as he shook the man’s hand.

“And this is Claire,” Mr. Matthews gestured to the woman sitting to Peter’s left.

“Hello,” Jay smiled as he nodded to her.

“And you know the rest of them,” Mr. Matthews said with a laugh, sitting back down as Jay took a seat beside him.

“It’s lovely to see you again, Jay,” Aurora smiled kindly.

“It’s lovely to see you too, Mrs. Matthews,” Jay responded, returning her smile genuinely as Eduard started to speak again.

“I imagine you worked up quite an appetite hauling my clubs around all day? What do you say we get some food and we can talk about your future,” Mr. Matthews said.

“My future?” Jay asked.

“Daddy’s on the board of directors at the University of Arcadia,” Audrey whispered into his ear, causing Jay to jump slightly at her close proximity.

“So, Jay, I saw your championship game. I mean, wow! That last-second goal at the buzzer… outstanding,” Jay smiled awkwardly as Mal and Ben appeared with their food, finding it unfair that he was sitting there at all.

“Actually,” Jay said as he gestured to his friends, “My teammates here stole the ball, otherwise I wouldn’t’ve had the chance-”

“Oh, you’re much too modest, Jay,” Audrey interrupted, “You were voted MVP for the _entire_ season.”

Jay grimaced slightly as the people at the table congratulated him, looking to his friends apologetically as they took the dirty dishes back to the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

“You know,” Mr. Matthews started, “We’ve got a heck of a tourney program over at U of A, and an excellent scholarship program as well.”

“Scholarship?” Jay asked.

“Yeah. You know, between the two of us here, we… we pull a little weight over at the school,” Mr. Matthews said as he gestured to Peter, smiling at Jay like a father would to his son.

Jay shifted in his seat, his mind going a million miles a minute as he tried to make sense of everything that had happened this evening.

“Well,” Jay said with a fake smile, “Time flies when you’re having fun, but Mr. Deley will probably want me clocking out…”

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Audrey said,” Daddy hasn’t even heard about your _amazing_ singing voice!”

“How wonderful,” Aurora smiled and sighed, “Jay can participate in the talent show.”

“Oh I don’t know…” Jay said, looking down at the table, “I mean, my voice is a little hoarse tonight. All the talking, I guess.”

“Well, some other time then,” Mr. Matthews said.

“Of course, thank you so much for dinner, it was amazing. But, I really do think I should be going,” Jay said as he moved to stand up, but was stopped when Audrey put a hand on his arm.

“But Jay, you will sing some other time, though? With me. Promise?” Audrey asked.

Jay looked from Audrey’s mother to her father, cursing internally for putting him in a position where he couldn’t say no.

“Of course,” he replied, and then he thanked them again for dinner and hurried off to the kitchen so he could punch out and meet Carlos for their date.

 

* * *

 

“ARGH!” Jay screamed into the empty kitchen, pissed that Audrey had backed him into a corner like that. He looked at his watch and cursed when he realized what time it was, he ran out the doors to the pool and saw Carlos sitting on the edge of a rock, his legs dangling over it and just barely touching the water below. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Jay said as he reached him, “Give me two more minutes to change out of this monkey suit and we can enjoy the rest of the evening?”

Carlos smiled up at him and said, “Nice tie. Your shoes don’t match though,” he smiled when Jay looked down at them in mock terror before he said, “Kidding!” Jay smiled and leaned down to give Carlos a chaste kiss before running off in the direction of the locker rooms.

Carlos sighed and looked over to where Evie was approaching him, having just finished her shift herself.

“Honey,” she started, “Two minutes is being late, but an hour is approaching a felony,” Carlos laughed as Evie continued, “Just because Jay’s a nice guy, doesn’t mean he’s immune to boy disease.”

“Boy disease?” Carlos asked.

“Yeah, forgetting things he shouldn’t forget,” Evie replied matter of factly.

“Wait, who are you again?” Carlos said as he furrowed his brow, wincing in mock pain as Evie hit him on the shoulder.

“Okay, so maybe _boy_ disease is the wrong wording, but my point still stands! You better find out exactly why he was so late,” Evie said with a laugh, turning around and heading inside so she could punch out for the day.

Carlos smiled fondly at his new sister, but felt it leave his face as he thought about what she had to say. He didn’t think that Jay would ever intentionally forget a date, but that didn’t mean it didn’t bother him. He looked out into the water as the minutes passed by, Carlos looking over to the doors every few minutes with the same thought.

_Where the hell is he?_

 

* * *

 

“Williams! You’re not done,” Deley called out as Jay punched out.

“But Mr. Deley, I’m done for the day and I actually have a date so-”

“Mr. Williams,” Deley said, “You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I actually care about what you have to say. Now, follow me.”

Jay sighed and looked to the doors leading to the pool in longing before following Deley through a maze of hallways, growing more and more confused the further they went.

“Hey, how long is this gonna take?” Jay asked as Deley led him up some steps and into a big chair, the flashlight that the man was holding being his only source of light, “I was supposed to have a date tonight!”

“Ah, but the night is young and so are you,” Deley responded, “Now please, hold your applause until the very end.”

Jay looked around him as Deley disappeared, feeling fear for the first time as he waited for something, anything, to happen.

_Where the hell am I?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW it's a horrible cliffhanger, but please don't hate me! Please comment what you thought!!


	6. Humuhumunukunukuapua’a

All of a sudden there was tropical music playing, and Jay looked around him to discover that he was sitting on a boulder-like chair on some sort of stage. Doug appeared with a flaming torch and started lighting tiki torches as Jay took the scene in, feeling more done than he had ever been in his entire life as Doug started to sing.

“ _A long time ago in a land far away lived the pineapple princess, Tiki. She was sweet as a peach in a pineapple way, but so sad that she hardly speaky… But if you listen well you’ll hear her secret wish…”_ Doug sang.

“ _Aloha, everybody, my name is Tiki,”_ Audrey appeared in a sparkly powder blue dress and flip flops, a pineapple hat completing the absurd outfit, “ _I long to free a truly remarkable fish, my… sweet… prince… Humuhumunukunukuapua’a, makahiki malihini who_ ,” Audrey had stepped up onto a surfboard and pretended to surf as she sang out the lyrics, “ _Humuhumunukunukuapua’a ooh hawana waka, waka, waka niki Pu, Pu, Pu,_ ” Audrey stepped down off of the surfboard as she turned to Doug and said, “ _Doug, the fog!”_

Doug hurried to turn on the fog machine as he sang, “ _She dreams of a boy who is under a spell that has left him all wet and scaly.”_

_“I sing from my heart of the power of love, just a girl with a ukulele,”_ Audrey sang, Doug harmonizing with her at the end.

“ _Come to me my sweet one and be still_ ,” Audrey sang.  
“ _Come to her my sweet one and be still,_ ” Doug sang.

_“I’ll grasp your tail, then stroke each tender gill, my sweet prince, Humuhumunukunukuapua’a, makahiki malihini who, Humuhumunukunukuapua’a ooh hawana waka, waka, waka niki Pu, Pu, Pu,”_ Audrey sang as her backup dancers moved to surround Jay where he was sitting on the rock. His eyes widened as Audrey sat down on the stage in front of him saying, “ _Now this is where we lead into the whole Kabuki thing,”_ the music tempo changed and Jay was somewhat reminded of how popular music always had a place where the bass dropped, thinking that if this song had any bass this would probably be where that happened.

_“The clouds turned gray and the big sky cried and the ocean had a fit, Doug! Where’s my ocean?”_ Audrey sang while simultaneously ordering her brother around, “ _Then the wind went whoosh and thunder cracked, and Mighty Mount Fufu spit,”_ Audrey waited a beat before repeating herself, “ _Might Mount Fufu spit!”_

Jay saw Doug spit off to the side to make the sound effect, but was distracted when the backup dancers started rolling his chair to the middle of the stage, gripping on for dear life as he went along for the ride.

_“T-t-t-tiki t-tiki, wanna speaky, speaky, speaky with the might spirit Fufu. T-t-t-tiki t-tiki, wanna speaky, speaky, speaky,”_ Doug rapped before his sister stole the spotlight again.

_“The words I will not mince, please make a man of my fresh fish prince! This is real fish talk. No lie,”_ then Audrey started making noises that sounded like Dory from Finding Nemo and Jay honestly felt sorry for the cartoon fish, “ _And then the fish turns into a gorgeous prince and sing… I’m Prince Humuhumunukunukuapua’a, makahiki malihini who,”_ Jay shook his said and said _No_ over the music when Audrey shoved lyric sheets into his hands, her voice dropping an octave as she pretended to do the guy part, “ _With me! Humuhumunukunukuapua’a hawana waka, waka, waka niki Pu, Pu, Pu… Everybody!_ ” Audrey started to hula dance across the stage as the background dancers also became background singers, _“Humuhumunukunukuapua’a, makahiki malihini who, Humuhumunukunukuapua’a ooh hawana waka, waka, waka niki Pu, Pu, Pu… Waka, waka, waka niki Pu, Pu, Pu… Waka, waka, waka niki Pu! Pu! Pu!”_ everybody finished with a flourish as the final notes were hit, Audrey bowing to a pretend audience as her background dancers applauded.

“So,” she said as she turned to him, “You love it?”

“Look,” Jay started, “You ever tried just singing? I mean, without all the lights and sets and, like, backup people?”

Audrey thought for a moment before saying, “Well, it’d be much harder to get applause that way…”

“I’m not talking about applause; I’m talking about hanging out with friends. You know, doing nothing, and singing for fun,” Jay tried to explain, but Audrey shushed him and started to speak.

“Wait a minute. Not doing anything. That might work. A dark stage, a single spotlight. We break out of darkness into the circle of light-”

“Wait, we?” Jay asked, but Audrey continued as if she hadn’t heard him.

“No set, no frills,” she said.

“Oh god,” Jay said as he stood up.

“Simple!” Audrey exclaimed as she grabbed his arm, “Dramatic. Just you and me. That is _such_ a great idea, Jay. We could do it at our club talent show!”

“Look, I’m here to _work_. Audrey, I already told you being onstage is really your thing, it’s not mine,” he said as he pulled her hand off of his arm.

“It could be our thing,” Audrey murmured, stepping closer to him, causing Jay to take a step back.

“Time out on that one, okay? I’ve got an _our thing_ , it’s with _Carlos_ , and… and I’m _very_ late for him, so I gotta go,” Jay said as he moved towards the stairs that led to the door.

“But the show could be amazing-” Audrey started.

“I _love_ your shoes,” Jay said, causing Audrey to look down at them, giving Jay enough time to slip away. He vaguely heard Audrey call out for them to do the number again, but he really couldn’t care less. All he could think about as he ran back down the halls of the country club was his boyfriend, and how guilty he felt for making him wait _again_.

 

* * *

 

Carlos meanwhile had been sitting on the rock by the edge of the pool, getting more and more convinced that Jay had left him, when he heard footsteps running towards him and a voice start to yell.

“Hey, lifeguard!” Jay whooped out a laugh as he cannonballed into the pool, causing Carlos to chuckle slightly and shake his head.

“You’re crazy, babe,” Carlos said with a small smile.

“And _so_ late, but I brought food, a few candles. I’m good for a poolside picnic. What do you say?” Jay treaded water as he gave Carlos his best puppy dog eyes, making it obvious that he felt shitty for how their evening had turned out, “Chad even made desserts. But first, I dare you to jump in.”

“You know we’re not supposed to be in the pool,” Carlos replied with a smirk, “Club rules.”

Jay frowned slightly and then disappeared below the water, coming up and thrashing his arms as he cried out, “Cramp! I need a lifeguard! Rescue me! Rescue me!”

Carlos laughed fully this time, quickly jumping into the pool and swimming up to Jay so he could “save” him.

“I’ve got you, you loser,” Carlos said as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, moving them towards the shallow end so they didn’t have to worry about keeping themselves afloat.

“I knew you’d save me,” Jay replied with a grin, moving so that his arms were around Carlos’ waist as he pulled him in for a kiss. Carlos wrapped his arms around Jay’s neck and pulled him closer, only stopping when they were flush against each other. Jay licked at Carlos’ bottom lip before pulling it into his mouth and biting on it, Carlos groaning as he did so and tilting his head so they could deepen the kiss even further. Jay pushed Carlos up against the side of the pool, moaning when he rolled his hips against Carlos’. Carlos gasped at the friction and pulled away, suddenly very aware of how far they were going in a very public place. Jay retracted his arms from where they were on Carlos’ waist, leaning back as he took a step back in the water. They snapped out of their slight daze when they heard a wolf howl in the distance, both turning towards the sound and moving closer to each other again.

“You know, right now, with you… it’s finally starting to feel like summer,” Jay whispered, looking over at Carlos as he grasped his hand under the water.

“Yeah, it is,” Carlos murmured, leaning in towards Jay slowly, but quickly looked up when he heard footsteps approaching the pool.

“The water bugs are back,” Mr. Deley smiled, gritting his teeth in obvious irritation.

“Look, Mr. Deley,” Jay started, “This was my idea, he had _nothing_ to do with it.”

But Deley continued as if Jay hadn’t even spoken.

“I generously overlooked your previous break violation, but then came the golf course jaunt, and now this. Two strikes. _Don’t_ get a third,” he narrowed his eyes and barked out, “Out of the pool!”

Carlos flinched at the inflection of his voice, and Jay frowned when he realized that he must be remembering all the times that Cruella had spoken to him that way. His joyous mood turned sour as he followed Carlos to the changing rooms, wondering how his summer had turned out to be going worse than he could have ever imagined.

 

* * *

 

“Audrey’s dad let me play a few holes and then invited me to dinner with some U of A alumni,” Jay told his father, Jafar, as they leaned over the engine to a busted up truck. Jay didn’t understand why his dad felt the need to fix this shitty thing up, but he had insisted, something about father-son bonding or something…

“Really?” Jafar asked, reaching into the toolbox beside him to search for something.

“And they were talking about scholarships, while Mal and Ben were, like, serving me,” Jay grimaced at the memory, still not okay with how his friends were being treated.

“Well, they’re getting paid, right? Isn’t that the point of them all being there? To work?” Jafar asked as he leaned over to twist something with a wrench.

“Yeah, but, shouldn’t I be working too? It just feels weird… it’s like I’m getting special treatment because Audrey’s interested in me…” saying it out loud actually confirmed it for Jay, he had been suspicious of Audrey’s intentions throughout the days he spent working there but he honestly couldn’t believe that she could be so devious.

“Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you just quit?” Jafar asked, “I’m sure there’s somewhere else in this town that’s hiring.”

“I know but, we’re all together, you know? Next year is our last year together and- and I just wanna spend every moment I can with them…” Jay trailed off as he thought about life after graduation, wondering how many friends he’d lose as the years went by.

“You know son, I know that you’re trying to get some advice from your old man, probably hoping for some piece of advice that will tell you exactly what to do, but I can’t make this decision for you. Growing up means taking all of the advice that your mother and I have given you, and using it to make the best possible decision for _you_. We’ll support you either way,” Jafar smiled at his son, and moved to close the hood of the car before tossing the keys over in Jay’s direction, “Take it out for a spin.”

“No way!” Jay exclaimed, his eyes widening.

“You didn’t think I was going to drive this heap, did you?” Jafar replied with a smirk.

“Yes!” Jay whooped and made his way around to the driver’s seat, stopping to quickly envelop his dad in a hug, “Thanks dad.”

“You’re welcome, son,” he replied.

He watched as his son started the engine and drove out of sight, only hearing a faint ‘I won’t be out too late’ as reassurance that he would actually come back. Jafar went back into the house with a smile on his face, knowing that his son would make the right decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this might be the start of where the fanfic diverges from the movie... since I'm not quite sure if I want Jay to follow the EXACT same storyline that Troy does.
> 
> Regardless, thank you so much for reading! Again I know I suck at updating, honestly I am just having a hard time figuring out where this is going... I may have to wait for the next movie to come out for more ideas.
> 
> But, as usual, I have NOT abandoned this fic! I hate when authors do that, so even if it's absolute shit I WILL finish this story.
> 
> And please, comment what you thought! I love hearing everyone's opinions (and I always respond, even if it takes me a super long time like updating does :P)


	7. Evil Like Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's been so long since I updated! I'm having trouble thinking of how to end the story, and I haven't even had time to see Descendants 2 yet, but once I do I think I should have the inspiration to finally finish this! But here's another chapter for everyone that's been so patient with this, I haven't abandoned you I promise! :)

“Okay, bring those knees up as high as you can and circle those arms!” Carlos called out, demonstrating by the side of the pool what he wanted his water aerobics class to do in the water.

“Hey, water bug,” Carlos turned to see Jay walking towards him, and he stopped showing the class how to do the exercise when he saw that they had the hang of it, “Last night was so fun. I really didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

“Same here,” Carlos replied, squinting slightly as he faced the sun.

“So, I was thinking,” Jay started, “Maybe today we could have our-”

“Jay!” they both turned to see Audrey holding up a sign that said SEE DELEY NOW up against the windows of the country club.

Jay grimaced and turned back to Carlos to quickly ask, “What time is your lunch break?”

“JAY!” Audrey yelled louder and pointed towards the sign, bringing out sighs of annoyance from both boys.

“1:30,” Carlos answered.

“1:30, great. Free cheeseburgers are on me,” Jay leaned down to quickly kiss his cheek before turning to the class and saying, “Everybody looks great! Awesome job.”

Carlos blushed and turned back to his class, smiling as he called out, “Okay, now, some jumping jacks!”

“Hey,” Carlos turned to see Evie doing jumping jacks along with him, and was about to laugh when he saw her glaring at the windows before asking, “What’s she up to?”

“Who knows?” Carlos answered.

“Believe me, she does,” Evie muttered.

Carlos frowned at Evie’s tone, wondering for the first time that summer if he should genuinely be worried.

 

* * *

 

Jay had just slid his card through the machine to punch in, and was thanking the heavens at not being caught, when he turned around to be directly faced with Mr. Deley.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Mr. Deley, but about the pool thing last night, you can’t blame Carlos-” Jay was about to continue making his point heard when Deley interrupted him.

“I’m promoting you,” he said.

“You’re what?” Jay asked, shocked.

“There’s an opening as an assistant to the golf pros. Salaried job, no clocking in, $500 a week, plus tips,” Deley explained as he took Jay’s time card and through it to the side.

“What?” Jay breathed, “Per _week_?”

“That’s what I said, now, are you interested?” Deley asked.

“Yes! Yes, of course,” Jay replied quickly, glancing at Mal in the kitchen with a baffled expression.

“Follow me,” Deley said, stepping around Jay quickly as he made his way down the hall. Jay stood frozen to the spot, only snapping out of it when he heard Deley bark out, “WILLIAMS!” He then turned around on his heel and hurriedly followed after him.

 

* * *

 

“Wait. So you want me to teach golf?” Jay asked, once they were inside the men’s locker room.

“To kids,” Deley confirmed, “Oh, the joy.”

“But, sir, I don’t think I’m qualified,” Jay protested.

“Worry not. Simply show the little angels which end of the club to hold, tee the ball up, then _duck_. In addition, the board is extending membership privileges to you. You have complete use of club facilities, but do so _prudently_ , meaning, fellow Knights? _Not_ ,” Jay’s eyes widened as Deley took a breather, turning to the locker beside him and opening it before saying, “Congratulations. You’ll find an appropriate choice of clothing here. Do not mix checks with plaids, blue with browns, and avoid wearing white socks at all cost. Leave your shoes outside the locker, they will be buffed and polished each evening.”

Deley turned around and moved the new set of golf clubs that had just been placed there so that they were in front of Jay, who immediately dropped his jaw at them. He wasn’t obsessed with golf, but he knew enough to tell that those clubs must’ve cost a fortune.

“And to help you get to your first tee, you might need these,” he dropped something into Jay’s hand, “That’s the key to your golf cart. Number Eight. The same number that’s on your tourney uniform, so I’m told. Questions?”

“How did this happen?” Jay wondered.

Deley paused, seemingly thinking over his words before responding, “It would seem that the Matthews family thinks you have untapped potential. Young man, the future is full of uncharted waters, and this family has real clout, so I suggest you take the ride.” And with that parting note, Deley moved around the corner and out of sight.

 

* * *

 

“Awesome, junior golfers! You guys look amazing!” Jay laughed as he looked at his class, surprising himself with how easily he slipped into teacher mode.

He had just finished showing a kid how to hold the club correctly when one of the schedule coordinators came up to him.

“Williams! Your 11:30 is here,” he said as he handed Jay a club.

“Thanks man,” Jay replied with a smile.

“Good luck, buddy,” the coordinator chuckled as he walked away, leaving Jay confused until he saw who his 11:30 was.

“Jay!” Jay turned to see Audrey pulling up in a hot pink golf cart, equipped with matching pink clubs and golf balls.

“Oh, shit,” Jay groaned, stealing his expression so he didn’t look like he wanted to have his students beat him to death with their clubs. Audrey, however, didn’t seem to think anything of it as she giggled on her way over to him.

“By the end of the summer you’ll have me playing like a pro,” Audrey said confidently, before attempting to hit the ball that Jay had placed at her feet. _Attempting_ being the key word.

“If I live that long,” he muttered, barely dodging her backswing as she tried to hit the ball again. Audrey grimaced and waited until Jay was further back before swinging again.

“I’m so excited about the show! Oh, and don’t worry. We’ll find something great to do,” she babbled as she continued to try to hit the ball, managing to hit a couple but not enough to get them more than a few feet in front of her.

“Look, Audrey,” Jay replied, “I already told you, singing really isn’t my thing.”

“And here’s the best news!” Audrey continued as if Jay had never spoken, “All the U of A boosters will be there.”

“Really?” Jay asked.

“Of course,” Audrey answered, “We’ll lock up your scholarship with a high “C” right from center stage.”

Jay looked away from Audrey in thought, now wondering if maybe it would be worth it to suffer through one song with Audrey.

“We’re all in this together, right?” Audrey asked, drawing Jay’s eyes back to hers.

“Your parents have been really, really nice, Audrey, but singing with you isn’t a part of my job,” Jay explained.

“I know, just something you promised to do… Remember?” Audrey smirked and looked Jay up an down, “You look fabulous in your new clothes by the way.”

Jay let out a chuckle and asked, “You like the shoes? They’re Italian.”

“Nice!” Audrey replied with a laugh.

Jay remained smiling for a minute, before clearing his throat and saying, “Let me show you how this is done. It’s really easy. Just line up your target…”

 

* * *

 

Neither of them noticed Evie watching them off of the green, her usual carefree smile turning into a frown as she looked between them. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, walking towards Carlos as she saw him and Mal walking out of the kitchen.

“Hey guys!” Evie greeted.

“Hey,” Carlos replied, about to ask her how her day was when he caught sight of Jay and Audrey laughing on the field.

“That girl’s got more moves than an octopus in a wrestling match,” Evie muttered.

“Nah. He knows how to swim,” Mal replied, her eyes showed more concern than she was letting on.

“Yeah,” Carlos agreed, “Jay can handle himself.”

“Well, I did overhear him asking for her opinion on his new Italian golf shoes…” Evie confided.

“He didn’t ask me,” Carlos’ smile had faded and he looked out at Jay worriedly.

“So, wake up! She’s basically offering him a college education just to sing with her in a talent show. And I mean, Jay _is_ bisexual so he could be more likely to-”

“If you say that he’s more likely to cheat because he’s bi I will slap you so hard your makeup will come off,” Mal hissed, looking over at Carlos as she continued, “Jay would _never_ do that, you know him.”

“You have eyes,” Evie said, “Use them.”

“Let’s go eat,” Carlos suggested, “I only have a limited time for lunch.”

“Yeah, I gotta go,” Mal added, waiting until Carlos was out of earshot before whispering, “And if you ever say _any_ of that biphobic shit again I will kick your ass, got it?”

“Jeez, ok I’m sorry!” Evie whispered back, “It was just a thought ok? I didn’t mean anything by it, _honestly_.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” Mal replied, “You don’t think that what you said was _wrong_.” And with that she turned on her heel and headed back to work.

Evie deflated as Mal walked away, hurrying to catch up with Carlos as the weight of Mal’s words hit her, and silently vowing to never say anything like that again.

 

* * *

 

“Mr. Deley, you wanted to see me?” Jay asked as he ran into the lobby.

“Yes, just this way…” Deley responded before leading him to Audrey’s father.

“Ah! Just who I was looking for, Jay Williams this is-” Mr. Matthews said before Jay cut in.

“I’ve seen them all play at U of A,” Jay interjected, “It’s great to meet you guys.”

“Likewise,” one of them replied, “You know, you should come scrimmage at our gym. It’ll be good for your game.”

“Play with you guys?” Jay asked, looking from them to Audrey’s father to make sure they weren’t messing with him.

“Yeah! Let’s get down, bro!” he replied.

“Awesome,” Jay sighed, reaching out to shake the guys’ hand.

“Well, how about we go get some awesome lunch?” Mr. Matthews suggested.

“As long as I’m free to join!” Jay turned to see Audrey behind him.

“Of course, pumpkin,” Mr. Matthews said as he pulled his daughter in for a quick hug, “You’re always welcome.”

“Awesome,” Jay sighed, following Audrey and her father towards the patio.

 

* * *

 

Jay couldn’t believe what was happening; he was actually giving golfing tips to tourney players that he had only _dreamed_ he could be someday. He didn’t even notice how much time had passed before his food was in front of him.

“Oh hey, just a second,” he said, handing his plate back to Mal, “I ordered Swiss on my burger.”

Mal stood there as she took the plate back, stunned at how easily Jay had just dismissed her. She was about to say something when someone grabbed her arm and said, “Ms. Wright, table three needs more iced tea.”

Mal’s expression turned into a glare as she stormed back to the kitchen, slamming the plate onto the table almost hard enough to crack it as she bit out, “Chad! Jay wants Swiss.”

“Coming right up!” Chad replied.

Mal saw Evie and Carlos eating lunch together and headed in their direction.

“You know, you were right,” Mal said, “There’s a guy out there that looks just like Jay Williams, but I have no idea who he really is.”

Evie and Carlos exchanged a worried glance, moving over to make room for Mal as she sat down between them. They all sat in silence, each of them wondering how on Earth Audrey had managed to take Jay away from them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! Please comment and leave kudos!


	8. Not A Chapter

Hey guys, I know I've been AWOL for months now and that's because I started University and it is SO MUCH WORK I have had literally no time for anything else.

(Like I gave up watching half a dozen shows and ever having a social life to barely pass this semester)

While it IS still my intention to finish this story, I have absolutely no idea when that'll be. I read all the comments posted and I feel really bad that people are wanting to know what happens next but I am paying thousands of dollars for my education and I can't sacrifice that for fanfiction... like it should be obvious that I can't.

So sorry for this extremely long wait! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and have a great New Year!!

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment what you think! It's always great to have feedback, and leave kudos if you think it deserves it!!


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